


Second Star to the Right

by Loveatleeds



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-21
Updated: 2014-07-23
Packaged: 2018-01-20 06:02:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1499366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loveatleeds/pseuds/Loveatleeds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When faced with the pain of losing his father, Louis decides he has no interest in ever growing up. He comes upon Neverland and soon makes himself the proud leader of a group of boys who share his fondness for adventure. Things become close to perfect for Louis. If only he could get rid of that damn pirate.</p>
<p>…or where Louis is Peter Pan and Harry is Hook and they really hate each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

 

 

Once upon a time in a land not very far away at all, a boy found himself in a horrible predicament. Sadly for him, it was not the first time he had been there either. As he hung upside down with his legs clasped tightly around the tree branch, he thought back on his life. It had been a good one. If this was his time to die, he could accept it. He’d lived a solid 11 years and had had plenty of adventures. It would be an awfully big adventure to die, he thought to himself.

But alas, right as the thought crossed his mind, he felt a cold wet tongue slide across his face and he opened his eyes to be met with two big brown ones not even an inch away.

“Hello Tilly, thank you for the concern but as it turns out, I will be dying here today so it is actually unnecessary,” the boy replied matter of factly. He heard a chuckle from behind him and twisted to no avail to see the culprit, but before he could put himself through too much turmoil, the owner of the voice walked around to stand next to the large dog.

“So there’s just no hope is there? What a pity,” said the man. He had long brown hair tied back with a ribbon on his back and stubble scattered over his chin, and most lovely of all, a smile that reached all the way up to his eyes. The boy instantly reciprocated it back to him, unable to deny the power of it and the man took the opportunity to grab the boy’s sides and pull him from the tree to land right side up on the ground in front of him. Only then did he realize his distraction and the smile fell from his lips.

“Oh no, what have you done? I was perfectly fine there, thank you.” The boy crossed his arms over his chest and pouted his bottom lip up to the much taller man.

“Well my darling Louis, I happen to know of an even greater adventure that needs attending to, and I know you are the boy for the job,” he persuaded, as he reached for his hand. His eyes lit up but he held back and attempted his best faux nonchalance. “I suppose I could have been wrong. I can go down the road and see if Miss Cindy would suffice. This adventure is so very dangerous, so it’s probably best you don’t attempt it anyway.” And with that, the man turned his back and started back down the path towards the cottage up ahead. He hadn’t made it but 4 steps before there was a small hand in his own, and a pair of footprints next to his much larger ones.

“I am quite capable of a dangerous adventure, Father. I am the bravest in all the land, as you well know.” The boy said with his head raised high, only to not see the root in front of him and fall forward. Luckily, his father was there to hold tight to his hand and keep him from hitting the ground.

With a grin, he replied, “Oh of course, how could I be so forgetful little bean?” Louis shrugged at him before being tossed in the air and placed on this father's shoulders.

“Well go on bug, lead the way!” He shouted as he began galloping down the path, the boy’s arms wrapped tightly around his head to stay on as Louis' laughter fell loudly from his mouth.

“Onward, my loyal steed, heed left at the brush. I suspect there is a giant in the forest and we wouldn’t want him to see us out in the open!” He exclaimed excitedly eyeing the dog digging behind one of the trees, and his father replied with a sturdy nod and followed his orders.

They didn’t defeat the giant or, as it really was, their dog until dinner time and they raced back to the house, the boy’s father letting him win by just a second, both of them collapsing on the floor of the kitchen gasping for air through their giggles. Tilly, their oversized shepherd dog followed behind and jumped on top of their shaking bodies, only making Louis let out a scream as he jumped to his feet.

“The giant! The giant followed us home, Father!” He yelled, trying his hardest not to giggle as he did so.

“Well, Louis, I think we have done all we can to defeat him and yet, here he stands. Maybe we should attempt a draw.” Addressing the dog now, the man continued, “Tilly, the great giant of the forest, would you accept our hand of friendship and call our match a draw?”

The dog stared at the man’s outstretched hand for a moment before letting out a bark and leaping forward to lick it. The man and his daughter let out another laugh and let themselves be overwhelmed with kisses from the great giant.

“I think he has accepted our terms, my dearest,” the man said with his very best smile, kissing his son on the top of his head.

____________

For as long as Louis could remember, it had only been him and his dad. His mom hadn’t wanted a baby and his dad couldn’t think of a bigger adventure than a son. So the two of them played day in and day out, and once Louis hit his teens he became the strange kid at school because he still played pretend. He didn’t mind though; he had tried other things and nothing compared to the rush of adrenaline he got running through the fields behind his house facing off some invisible threat. And best of all, he was never alone. His dad was always there with him, taking commands and fighting the battles side by side.

So when he came home from school one afternoon and was met by a woman in a stiff business suit, he immediately felt uneasy.

“Come in and have a seat, Louis.” She said politely with a smile that was clearly forced, nothing like the beaming one he was used to receiving at home every day. He sat down at the kitchen table with his legs folded up in the chair, “criss cross applesauce” as his dad had taught him.

“Louis, I have some bad news for you, sweetie. Your dad was in an accident...he didn’t make it.” The woman continued to explain but Louis had stopped listening. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears and feel it drain from his face as his palms grew sweaty. The room seemed too small all of a sudden and everything seemed far too real. He didn’t know what to do or say to the woman who apparently was still talking, so he made his way out of the chair and out the door without looking back.

He ran and ran, until he no longer recognized where he was and then kept going. When he finally stopped, it was only because his legs were screaming and the cold was creeping into his bones. He found a tree and curled up under its branches. Looking around, he couldn’t help but think about that day years before that him and his father had chased their old dog around the forest for what must have been hours. It all looked so similar. It was only then that he began to cry. He let himself cry until his eyes were drifting shut with sleep. Just as Louis was about to let himself give in, he heard his voice for the first time since he had gotten the news, quiet and almost unintelligible.

“I never want to grow up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! You can find me over on tumblr at loveatleeds (:
> 
> And as always, comments and kudos are greatly appreciated!


	2. The Lost Boys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. I wanted the chapter to be longer, but honestly I have been travelling and too busy to write and I thought it would be better to get something up even if it's not too long. So for future reference, chapters will be getting longer. And don't worry, Harry will be here soon(;
> 
> ALSO I have a lovely beta named Devony and you can find her over on tumblr at thesecretstheykeep

 

The smell of smoke drifted around Louis’ head, teasing him into consciousness. Louis loved when his dad built a fire on a chilly morning. It made the whole house smell like Christmas and he always chose his very best jumper and fuzzy socks for those days, days that were made just for story telling by the light of the fire. He had first been told of dragons there and had been so intrigued that for almost 4 months, no one could convince him to remove the tin foil from around his body. Louis thought that he had made a very convincing knight in shining armor. However he had little interest in that side of the story, he craved the action. He hung on every syllable of the slaying of the dragon, how the knight fought hard with his sword to kill the beast that had so long plagued the land. But to end such a great and epic story with love’s true kiss had always seemed silly to Louis. Love had no bearing there, not in the land of story and pretend. Love was for grown-ups, and Louis had become very wary of those over the years. His father was the only one he could trust to never disappoint him.

It was that thought that woke him from the state of half-sleep he had been pleasantly drifting through. His father. His father had died. Why did he smell the fireplace? Had his father not been dead after all?!

Louis’ head shot up from where it had rested on his folded arm. It took him a moment to gather his surroundings. As far as he could in front of him there were trees. Dense forestry on all sides, with the only light coming from between the branches above him. He could make out glimpses of the sun, a bright and powerful gold high in the sky, puffy white clouds lazily drifting around it. It was almost entrancing the way the rays of the sun seeped to the ground and the clouds swirled around it.

He wasn’t sure how long he had been staring upwards when all of a sudden the view was blocked by a mass of blonde hair and large blue eyes. The unknown boy stared down, head tilted to the side and eyes squinted, inspecting Louis’ face. Louis could only sit and stare, completely startled, and after another moment, he jumped as the other boy’s head shot up and yelled.

“Boys! Boys, he is awake. He isn’t dead after all, what a relief, eh?” The blonde boy sat back on his knees and was soon joined by a group of boys, all similar in age and all equally dirty.

It looked like they had never seen the inside of a bath tub and definitely hadn’t had access to soap any time in the recent past. As they moved closer, he amended it to maybe never. The stench was overwhelming, and the boys were quite possibly the strangest children he had ever laid eyes on. But they hadn’t threatened him yet, so maybe they were okay. Whoever they were.’

“What should we do with him?” One of the boys asked, turning to the rest of them and shoving a dirt covered finger at Louis’ face.

“I don’t know, it’s not every day we find a boy taking a nap in our forest, Liam. What’s the protocol for this sorta thing?” another boy asked, emphasizing his point with a loud sigh and crossing his arms over his chest.

“Do we really need to make a fight out of this too, Zayn? I told you I was sorry about the dinner incident last night. Can we just move on please?” The first boy retorted, his own face and voice matching the annoyance in the other’s.

“No, Leeeum, we cannot just “move on” as you say, because I did not accept your apology. You know all of us have to eat and yet you just go off by yourself and have dinner all on your own not bothering to ask any of us if we want any or if we have dinner ourselves. And then you just come back after _hours_ of being gone, all fat and happy after your just spectacular dinner while we all had to sit around camp wondering where you were.” Zayn threw his hands in the air and slumped to the ground, eyes turned to the dirt where his finger was drawing circles. He looked defeated, so different from his outrage not even seconds before.

“Oh, so that’s what this is really about then? Well, why didn’t you just tell me that? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where I was off to. I didn’t mean to make you worried.” Liam put his arm around Zayn and leaned close to whisper “I’m sorry” so quietly Zayn knew it was just for him. Zayn looked up and smiled at the other boy, whatever tension existed moments earlier apparently dissolved. They soon realized that their outburst and reconciliation had not been private, and were met with two pairs of eyes staring at them like they were mad. It was only then that they remembered what they were doing huddled on the ground to begin with.

“Alright boys, we need to get back to business. What should we do with the boy?” Liam said, sounding very civil and mature for a kid who couldn’t be older than 17.

“We don’t know what he is capable of, I mean, where did he come from? I say we kill him!” The blonde boy said, looking to the others for feedback.

“Niall, we can’t kill him. He isn’t a monster, he is a boy just like us. Let’s just try to figure out where he came from, yeah?” Zayn huffed, and turned to face Louis who had been sitting wide eyed for the better part of 5 minutes, dumb founded by everything unfolding in front of him. The three boys were all facing him now, an expectant look on their faces. It was only then that Louis realized they were waiting for him to explain himself. Not that he knew anything more than they did about his current predicament, but he felt he better try.

“Ummm….” Louis started nervously. Shockingly, the mention of murder had shaken him up a little bit. Not that waking up in a strange forest to a group of dirt covered boys didn’t already take care of that. “Well I’m from a small town called Doncaster, and I really have no idea how I got here. I went to sleep out behind my house and when I woke up, you lot were around me and having a domestic.”

Louis couldn’t help get a little worked up as he went along, as telling the story aloud, he heard how ridiculous it all sounded. He went to sleep in England and woke up in a strange forest with a bunch of boys who clearly were not from any civilized place. He was all for adventures and pretend, but this was definitely not in his imagination. His breathing picked up and he began to rock back and forth to calm down.

“Hey buddy, it’s okay. We will figure it out, alright?” Liam came forward to sit next to Louis and put a hand on his shoulder. “We’ll help you, okay?” Louis looked up from where his face had been hidden between his knees and was met with a warm smile, a smile that reached the boy’s eyes. And maybe it was because it reminded him of someone or maybe it was because he didn’t really have any other options, but he decided to trust that boy.

Louis nodded in reply, not trusting his ability to keep it together if he opened his mouth. Luckily, the other boy didn’t press him for anything more and just put his hand out in front of Louis, an expectant look on his face.

“I’m Liam,” the boy said. “And you are?” Louis brought his own hand forward and shook Liam’s, trying to ignore how his palm came away with a thin layer of dirt on it that hadn’t been there before.

“I’m Louis.”

Liam smiled and pointed to the other boys, “That there is Niall, don’t worry he didn’t mean what he said about killing you. Honest he couldn’t even kill a bird for dinner the other night. He is incredibly unhelpful, but he can sing like an angel so we keep him around.” Louis let a giggle out before reaching forward to shake hands with the blonde boy who was trying his very best glare on Liam.

“And then this is Zayn. He is the nicest boy you’ll ever meet, but is a horror when it comes to sleeping. The boy can snore like a beast, I swear.” After Zayn had given a quick shove to Liam and mumbled something that sounded a lot like “you’ll pay for that tonight”, he leaned forward to meet Louis’ hand.

“Good to meet you Louis,” Zayn said. “Oh, and welcome to Neverland.”

“Neverland?” Louis’ eyebrows furrowed in confusion, eyes flitting between the boys for an explanation.

“Why of course, it’s only the very best place in all the worlds. We’ve got forests and oceans and mermaids and pirates. You’ll love it, Louis!” Niall said excitedly. “You do fancy adventures, don’t you?”

Louis felt the smile creep on his face before Niall had even finished saying mermaids. This sounded like just what he needed. A little vacation from real life. Real life, where he was alone and sad and very much without adventures.

“I love adventures! Can we go see these things today? I would so love to see a pirate or mermaid. We don’t have those where I am from.”

The boys’ eyes widened, “You don’t have them? What do you have then? Who is to guard the waters and who is one to fight?” Niall looked genuinely confused, as did the other two.

“We just do normal things, like go to school and read about adventures. Though me and my father did like to pretend, but we never came face to face with a real pirate before, only ones in our imagination,” Louis explained.

“Your imagination? Well where is the good in that when there are real pirates needing your attention? Here in Neverland, we have anything you can think of. Except school and all that other boring stuff. We only have fun here Louis, and we never grow up.” Liam said with a smile and began to stand up. “Well come on then. We have plenty of time to show you everything, but first we need to have dinner and get a good night’s rest. Come on boys, let’s go home!” Louis stood up along with the rest of the boys, but by the time he was on his feet, the others were meters ahead. The boys were yelling and clapping their hands over their mouths as they ran, beating their chest and jumping into the air. They looked absolutely out of control, and Louis didn’t waste any time in joining in.

By the time they made it to the boys’ house, which Louis soon learned meant a hideout inside a tree, they were all collapsing with laughter. Louis looked down at his feet, which had already been caked with mud and leaves, and smiled. At home, he always had to wash up before dinner, but not here. Here, they all slid into the hole of the tree and fell into a large open area with hammocks hanging from the ceiling and a single table in the center of the room, chairs scattered around it. It was a complete mess, dirt everywhere, large leaves with leftover food on them just thrown about. Louis felt like he should be disgusted, and yet in the very pit of his stomach, he already felt at home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading! Any feedback, kudos, comments would be amazing! You can also shoot me a message or whatnot on my tumblr- loveatleeds. I hope you guys like it, I'm really excited about the next chapter. Harry will be making a grand appearance!! 
> 
> Again thanks for reading, and the kudos so far! You're the best(:
> 
> -Dani


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been two million years since I've updated!! I have been going through some personal stuff, but I will try my best to get updates out much more often.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!

It had only been a week when the lost boys asked Louis for them. For his stories. They had adventures, sure. But Louis had his imagination, which as it seemed was endless. Louis could tell stories about things that may never have existed at all and make them come alive through his words. The lost boys were completely entranced and it became routine that following dinner, they all sat on the ground surrounding Louis in his chair to listen to one of his great adventures.

During one such story, Louis was describing a particularly nasty run in with a pirate and spoke of the brawl as vividly as if it were happening in front of him. The swords slashed together, with mirroring footwork and eyes burning into one another’s. And just as the fearsome pirate was about to succeed in knocking Louis’ sword from his hand, Louis bent his knees and jumped high into the air. But he didn’t come down, he kept rising, doing flips in the air as laughter escaped his lips.

“I can fly!” the boy yelled as he continued zipping through the trees, leaving a dumb founded pirate to stare up at him. “Take that, you dirty pirate!” Louis raised his sword and defeated his opponent in one foul swoop as he returned to the ground.

“The end,” Louis finished, with a wistful smile. He turned his head to the boys, “can you imagine if you really could fly?”

“But Louis, you can fly!” Niall said, laughing like Louis was the most ridiculous person he had ever met. The other boys joined in, all three in giggles on the floor while Louis sat staring on.

“No I can’t, I’ve tried.” Louis replied, thinking back on a particularly horrible day in the Tomlinson household when he had believed himself capable of flying off the roof. So yes, he was pretty positive that his broken arm had been enough proof that he definitely could not fly.

“Well of course not on your own. You need fairy dust, Lou.” Liam said as Louis relayed his childhood trauma to the boys.

“Fairy dust?” Louis’ apprehension faded as excitement took its place.

“Yup! Speaking of, we should go check in on the fairies tomorrow. We can pick up some dust for Lou and I’ve been hearing some nasty rumors about trouble in the fairy land.” Zayn said, concern showing on his brow. Liam brought an arm to his shoulder, rubbing softly.

“I’m sure that’s all they are, Zayn- rumors.” Liam said soothingly.

“I still think we should check on them. It’s our duty to protect Neverland. I just don’t wanna let ‘em down.” Zayn replied, already looking more relaxed from Liam’s words and touches.

“’Course we will go, boys! And anyway, if the rumors are true, we can just go kick some dirty pirate arse!” Niall bellowed with a grin, standing up and raising an invisible sword into the air. “Just like Louis in his story!”

“Wait, so what are these rumors?” Louis asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

“Well, I talked to one of the fairies a few days ago and she had been hearing about missing fairies, and apparently it’s Captain Harry back at it again. He’s been really quiet lately, so I wouldn’t put it past him to be up to something like this.” Zayn scoffed, throwing the dirt he had balled up in his fist down to the ground.

“Who’s Captain Harry?” Louis pressed.

“Captain Harry is the meanest pirate in Neverland!” Niall cut in, “He has a huge crew of equally awful blokes and they all find new and horrible ways to torment everyone in Neverland. But Harry, he is the worst. He does it just for fun, gets off on it, you know. He thinks up ideas that bring pain to others and goes through with them with a smile on his face.”

“And you think he’s behind the fairies going missing then?” Louis asked, getting a little wary of going up against someone who sounded so frightening.

“Most likely. If fairies really are going missing, there isn’t anyone else on the island who would do such a thing.” Liam said, sadness sweeping over his features. He seemed personally affected by it and when he glanced up to find Louis looking at him curiously, he continued, “I was raised by them. Before Zayn and Niall arrived at Neverland, it was just me. So the fairies took me in and showed me all of the island. They made sure I knew how to find food and shelter. They became my family. I only left them because Zayn and Niall came and there wasn’t room for everyone in fairy land. But if Captain Harry really is hurting them, I’ll be the first to take him on.”

As Louis lay in his hammock that night, he couldn’t stop thinking about Captain Harry. It felt like one of his imaginary stories was coming to life, and all of a sudden, things felt more real. The fact that he was now in a place that had pirates who kidnapped fairies and it was up to four boys to stop him. It seemed absurd. But as Louis lay there, letting the thoughts wash over him, he couldn’t help but feel a tinge of excitement mixed in with the worry.

This was his chance. Louis’ chance to have a real adventure. To defeat a real life pirate. He wondered what Harry would be like. If he was old or young, tall or short, fearsome looking or plain. In his mind he pictured a pirate from a story his father had read to him once long ago. A pirate with long hair, a scraggly beard, earrings and beads in his hair. He would have dirt covering him from head to toe and his clothes would be layered and old. His sword sharp and ready to kill, his arm quick and his feet nimble. He was definitely fearsome.

Louis fell asleep to images of sword fighting and awoke in a cold sweat with a scream threatening to explode from his lips.

He sat up in his hammock and looked around, checking on each boy, all still fast asleep in their respective beds. Zayn and Liam together, cuddling close. Niall in a hammock made of palm fronds, holding a teddy bear snug against his chest as a light snore came from his mouth. Louis sighed in relief and laid back down. It was still dark outside so he knew he should try to return to sleep. But his nightmare seemed to be replaying over and over in his mind like a movie reel and he knew sleep was out of the question.

Louis carefully slid his feet to the ground and tip toed out of the room and up towards the entrance to the forest, lighting a candle on his way out. He walked aimlessly for what felt like forever, and seeing the night sky becoming brighter and hearing the soft chirps of birds, Louis decided it was time to head back to the treehouse. Looking around, Louis started to grow worried. He really had not been paying enough attention to where he was going when he left, more concerned with his dreams and taking in all the excitement of the forest.

Louis was headed in what he thought was the general direction of home when he first heard it. The gun shot rang through his whole body, loud and piercing in the early morning calm. But it wasn’t the shot that sent goosebumps down his arms, it was the loud laugh that followed. The laugh was sudden and seemed far too close for Louis’ liking.

“Hello poppet,” a voice from behind Louis whispered. “What’s a boy like you doing out in the forest all by your lonesome, huh?”

Louis whipped around to come face to face with a man lowering a gun who looked hauntingly similar to the man from Louis’ dreams. Long scraggly hair, twigs and what looked suspiciously like spiders tucked into his beard. The man was a good foot taller than Louis and intimidating enough that Louis shrunk even further in on himself.

“Um, I am just on a walk. But I really should be getting back, I’m sure my friends are wondering where I, where I am…” Louis stutters, slowly backing away from the man.

“Oh now now, we only just met! Don’t be going so soon. I don’t think I’ve seen you around these parts. What’s your name then?” The man took one step forward, towards Louis.

“My name’s Louis. But I really do need to be off now. So nice to meet you!” Louis said much too quickly, hoping to make a speedy exit.

“Well Louis, I’m afraid I can’t let you do that. I’m on strict orders to be on the lookout for any new faces, and I do believe yours is the newest I’ve seen. Capt’n will want to speak to you, little Louis.” Before Louis could respond or run, the man grabbed his arms and yanked him forward, binding them with rope and knotting it tight enough Louis was sure there would be bruises.

“And we wouldn’t want your friends to worry about you, love, so let’s just keep the screaming to a minimum, yeah?” Another piece of rope from the man’s bag was shoved between Louis’ teeth and tied over his hair just as painfully as his wrists. He tried not to yelp, but when he did all he received in return was that same booming laugh that had started this.

And then they were off.

**Author's Note:**

> So I am hoping to have a new chapter out every few days, and at least once a week. Once I get further in, I can get into a schedule hopefully. Let me know what you think! I'm really excited about this so hopefully you all enjoy it!!
> 
> And if you are looking to contact me, or send me messages, my tumblr is loveatleeds.tumblr.com
> 
> Thanks for reading!!(:


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